1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automatic discovery. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for automatic discovery of systems and accounts.
2. Description of Related Art
Often too many users of a network are granted full, unrestricted superuser, root, or administrator privileges, regardless of whether or not they need this access all the time and regardless of whether they need access to perform their current duties. This “all trusting” environment is frequently coupled with a lack of accountability of this access. Unfortunately, these privileged accounts are often exploited by unethical insiders and hackers to perpetrate fraud, theft, and damage.
In response to the possible damages caused by an “all trusting” environment, some administrators administrate privileged and embedded passwords. However, due to the depth of access that privileged and embedded passwords provide to highly sensitive and confidential information, and the fact that these access credentials are shared among administrators, it is only natural that security experts and compliance auditors are recommending and requiring more scrutiny and control in this area. Without a system of checks and balances and overall accountability for privileged and embedded passwords, an organization lays itself open to exploitation and exposes its mission-critical systems to intentional or accidental harm and malicious activity that is difficult and costly to repair.
Further, the problems of adding privileged and embedded passwords to systems become more complex as the system grows. It is not uncommon that large corporations contain networks with heterogeneous computing environments that are constantly changing. Machines, services, accounts, and applications are typically constantly added and deleted. Management of these systems is often not cost effective or timely. As a result, even if specific machines are well secured, the overall security of the changing environment is often lax and riddled with weaknesses.